(1)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 (2) establishes, on the basis of a preliminary risk assessment, a list of high-risk plants, plant products and other objects.

(2)

Following a preliminary assessment, 34 genera and one species of plants for planting originating from third countries were provisionally listed in the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 as high-risk plants. That list includes the genus Betula L.

(3)

On 27 April 2023, the United Kingdom (3) submitted to the Commission two requests for export to the Union of up to 1-year-old budwood/graftwood of Betula pendula with a maximum diameter of 12 mm; up to 7-year-old plants for planting of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens in growing medium, with a maximum diameter of 40 mm at the base of the stem; up to 7-year-old bare rooted plants for planting of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens, with a maximum diameter of 40 mm at the base of the stem and up to 15-year-old plants for planting of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens in growing medium, with a maximum diameter of 80 mm at the base of the stem (‘the relevant plants’). Those requests were supported by the relevant technical dossiers.

(4)

On 26 September 2024, the European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) adopted a scientific opinion regarding the risk assessment of the relevant plants (4). The Authority identified Entoleuca mammata, Meloidogyne fallax, Phytophthora ramorum (non-EU isolates) and Thaumetopoea processionea as pests relevant for those plants, evaluated the risk mitigation measures described in the technical dossiers and estimated the likelihood of freedom of the relevant plants from those pests.

(5)

Meloidogyne fallax and Phytophthora ramorum (non-EU isolates) are listed as Union quarantine pests in Annex II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 (5), and Entoleuca mammata and Thaumetopoea processionea are listed as protected zone quarantine pests in Annex III to that Regulation.

(6)

On the basis of the opinion of the Authority, the phytosanitary risk arising from the introduction into the Union territory of the relevant plants is considered to be reduced to an acceptable level, provided that the respective import requirements set out in Annex VII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 are complied with.

(7)

As the phytosanitary risk from the introduction into the Union territory of large and old trees of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens (80 mm and 15-year-old) is considered to be reduced to an acceptable level, it is therefore justified to conclude that the phytosanitary risk from the introduction into the Union of all plants for planting of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens, irrespective of their size, age, bare rooted or in growing medium, originating in the United Kingdom, is reduced to an acceptable level.

(8)

Consequently, plants for planting of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens originating in the United Kingdom should no longer be considered high-risk plants. They should therefore be removed from the list of high-risk plants, plant products and other objects in the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019.

(9)

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2019 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee for Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,